Database

Oman Bird database is an extensive database information system about all birds of the Sultanate of Oman, containing over 16 million records of about 47 groups and 623 species of birds (2019), including Geographical Information System for spatial distribution for more 455,000 locations.

The very first record in the Oman Bird database is by the explorer Ibn Battuta (1304-1369), who visited Oman in the early summer of 1329 when he sailed form the east coast of Africa to the Hallaniyyat Islands and further up the east coast of Oman to present-day Muscat. At Hasikiyyah Island, he wrote of the blackbirds, undoubtedly Socotra Cormorants. Hasikiyyah is still the only breeding site for this species in Oman. There are no further bird records for 500 years until British seafarers started to visit Oman in the 1830s.

The National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) manages and updates this National database since 2018, in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Studies and Research (CESR) and the Remote Sensing and GIS Research Center (RSGISRC), Sultan Qaboos University. Oman Bird database has been a work in progress since 1971, and now we are pleased to offer it as a service to the bird-watching and scientific community. The Oman Bird database provides an information management tool through which ornithologists and bird watchers from NFRCEC, CESR and RSGISRC manage, analyze, and report on the breadth of their scientific knowledge - Species, Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs). Much of these data are available through the Data Zone. Users can search for detailed information on Species, Sites, and EBAs, and download subsets of the database.

The Oman Bird database provides an information management tool through which ornithologists and bird watchers from NFRCEC, CESR and RSGISRC manage, analyze, and report on the breadth of their scientific knowledge - Species, Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs). Much of these data are available through the Data Zone. Users can search for detailed information on Species, Sites, and EBAs, and download subsets of the database.

  • 2018

    The National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) and the Center for Environmental Studies and Research and the Remote Sensing and GIS Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University started a strategic collaboration to revise and extended the previous database so that it now covers sites, geospatial information about species, Endemic Bird Areas and species Arabic names. Data are being added continually based on regular campaigns of observation across the country, by dedicated ornithologists and bird watchers using the recent geospatial techniques for observation and records

  • 2013

    Remote Sensing & Geographical Information Systems Research Centre at Sultan Qaboos University, conducted a research project in 2013 tracking the migration of birds wintering at Barr Al Hikman using Global Positioning System devices fitted on the birds. The study is the first of its kind to track the migration crab plovers and bar-tailed godwits within the West Asian-East African flyway. Monitoring the migration routes and the consistency of birds’ time could be a major indicator of any potential local, regional or global climate change and Water birds are good indicators of the status of the overall ecological status of wetlands. The study showed that more than one million migratory shorebirds visit Barr Al Hikman every year. Half of the species are long-distance migrants. Moreover, this study showed that this area supports 10–15% of the world population of Crab Plovers and is therefore the most important wintering area for these species.

  • 2001

    The National Field Research Centre for Environmental Conservation (NFRCEC) and the Center for Environmental Studies and Research, Sultan Qaboos University started a strategic collaboration to revise and extended the previous database so that it now covers sites, geospatial information about species, Endemic Bird Areas and species Arabic names. Since 2016, data are being added continually based on regular campaigns of observation across the country, by dedicated ornithologists and bird watchers using the recent geospatial techniques for observation and records

  • 1989

    The cart index, containing some 5000 cards, were handed over to Mr. Jens Eriksen, in 1989, who became the new recorder. In 1989, Mr. Jens and Mrs. Hanne Erikson began the daunting task for the development of a computerized database, and they transferred over six years of all records from cards to the database.

  • 1981

    The cards were handed over by Mrs. Warr to Michael Gallagher on August 1st, 1981, in several plastic boxes. They were subsequently colored-coded and assembled in species sets and placed in a four-drawer metal cabinet at the Ministry of Heritage and Culture. Subsequent data were entered from observers reports by Michael Gallenger and later by David J G Foster, the first Recorder for Oman Bird Records Committee.

  • 1971

    Oman Bird database was started in 1971, as a card index by Mrs. Effie Warr. On the first card, Mrs. Warr wrote: This card index was started when I was in Oman in 1971 for my own interest and with no thought that it might ever be read or used by anyone else. Well, it has been used extensively and became a most valuable reference, not least for the publication of The Birds of Oman (Gallagher and Woodcock, 1980).

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